Dick84 wrote:The long-term damage being done to our society by the disintegration of a vigorous press is something we don't appreciate at all.
It's sad and frightening.
People don't want to pay for content because they see stuff for free on the internet... and people think it's the same thing.
Welp.. net result? We've got the least involved and least politically literate electorate possible. What a disappointment.
not so sure this is true, frankly i grew so tired of politically leaning print, it wielded so much power and, imo, abused it, it offered a disservice more than a service as far as i could tell... add to this one writer after another exposed for bogus sources, for bogus stories, which i believe was only the tip of the iceberg.
anyway i haven't purchased a newspaper in over a decade, longer even, which i never thought i would say, because they were such a big part of my life, always subscribed to several, in fact a couple of the companies i worked for in my past life required that those in management purchase a subscription to the wsj, altho most already had... it was a different era, which i don't miss at all, other than the daily and sunday crosswords, especially merl reagle's sunday treats!
speaking of which, i went to a dinner party quite a few years ago, one of the guests was an old beat writer for the san francisco chronicle who told some great stories about the paper's heyday in 70s and 80s, that included lavish employee xmas parties, an endless supply of advertising dollars, and huge politcal power, and how it all had nose dived into nothing, to the point where there wasn't any money for xmas parties, he had been laid off a month before.